Ex-WaPo ‘Fact-Checker’ Glenn Kessler Admits He Was ‘Completely Wrong’ To Dismiss COVID Lab Leak Theory

‘When you’ve got a title like “the Fact Checker,” when you make a mistake, people notice,’ the ‘Pinocchio’ rating system creator says

Former Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler admitted this week that he was “completely wrong” to publish a May 2020 headline casting doubt on the theory that COVID-19 originated from a Chinese lab, saying he has “infinite regret” over the headline.

“I screwed up,” Kessler told journalist Ira Stoll in a Wednesday interview, referring to his Post fact check headlined “Was the New Coronavirus Accidentally Released From a Wuhan Lab? It’s Doubtful.” Kessler admitted to adding the words “It’s Doubtful” to the original headline.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Kessler went on. “No one is perfect. And when you’ve got a title like ‘the Fact Checker,’ when you make a mistake, people notice. So, you know, you’ve got to own it.”

The Post was among the first mainstream outlets to reject the lab leak theory, labeling it a “coronavirus conspiracy theory that was already debunked” even before Kessler’s “fact check.” In 2023, the FBI and Department of Energy issued assessments leaning toward a lab leak as the “most likely” origin, prompting many left-leaning outlets to reframe the theory as plausible.

Kessler in the interview also defended his fact-checking record at the Post, saying that among the “3,000 fact checks” that he wrote or edited, “there might be a dozen bad apples there.”

But this is far from the only time that Kessler, who left the Post last month after running its Fact Checker column for 14 years, faced scrutiny over partisan bias, especially in his “Pinocchio” rating system. While billed as a neutral arbiter of truth, the system often hammered Republican figures while downplaying or defending inaccurate claims by Democrats.

Last June, for example, Kessler dismissed videos of then-president Joe Biden appearing confused as “misleading,” saying the clips used “deceptive framing.” Some of Biden’s own advisers have now admitted that the former president was confused during his term, with former chief of staff Ron Klain telling author Chris Whipple that Biden was “fatigued, befuddled, and disengaged” during debate prep sessions.

During President Donald Trump’s first administration, Kessler also repeatedly promoted the “Russiagate” hoax that falsely accused Trump of collusion with Russia.